Door latch



ATTORNEY INVENTOR Clarence M. Woodward Patented Feb. 3, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 Claim.

(Granted under Title 35, U. S. Code (1952),

The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government of the United States for governmental purposes without payment to me of any royalty thereon in accordance with the provisions of the act of April 30, 1928 (ch. 460, 45 Stat. L. 467) This invention relates to a pivoted handbag support for use in ladies toilets, Washrooms, etc., which serves as a door latching means when the support is in operative position with a bag held by said support.

The door is unlatched from a stationary strike plate by removing the bag and tilting the support upward to release it from the strike plate thereby unlatching the door. The support will drop to an inoperative position after the door is opened.

In the accompanying drawings which illustrate two preferred embodiments of my invention Figure 1 is a side elevation of my device in latching position.

Figure 2 is a section on the line 2--2 of Figure l.

Figure 3 is a side elevation of an open door with my support hanging down in inoperative position looking from the hinged side of the door.

Figure 4 is a side elevation of an alternate embodiment of my invention.

Figure 5 is a plan view of the alternate form.

In these drawings:

A door I hinged to open into a toilet stall is provided with a latching support II (Figure 4) which is pivoted to one leg of an angle I2, mounted on the door I0. The support II is reversible and provided with two inclined faces I3 which terminate in latching shoulders I4 and is grooved at I to provide a support for a, lighted cigarette. There is mounted on a door jamb` I6 an inwardly extending strike I'I provided with latching notches I8 which receive the latching shoulders I4 when the door I0 is closed and a handbag I9 is hung on the support.

Referring to the alternate form which is illustrated in Figures l, 2, and 3:

A bag supporting shelf 20 provided on its underside with an inclined latching shoulder 2| is mounted on a door l0 With two hinges 22. This shelf 20 is adapted to engage with a strike I'I on a door jamb I6 which is identical with the strike illustrated in Fig. 4.

In this modification the bag I9 rests on the shelf 20 instead of being hung from the support II and a cigarette support is formed by a gutter 23 along the face of the shelf. One of the leaves of the hinge 22 is mounted on an L-shaped member 24 which is slotted at 25 to receive an outwardly turned stop 26 of a base plate 27 of the strike I'I. When the door Ill is latched, as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, the weight of the shelf 20 plus any live load carried by it tend to tilt the shelf on the strike I'I. This lifting tendency causes one leg of the member 24 to engage the stop 26 which resists any sagging of the .shelf 20.

The operation of both embodiments of my invention is easily understood by anyone. There are no fragile parts to become bent or broken in use and either may be easily installed with a minimum of labor cost.

It should be understood that the present disclosure is for the purpose of illustration' only, and that the invention includes all modifications and equivalents which fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claim, in which it is my intention to claim all novelty inherent in my invention as broadly as possible in view of the prior art.

What I claim is:

An article receiving member for use as a door latching device comprising an L-shaped mounting member adapted for mounting on a door with an end extending beyond a swinging edge of a door, said end having a slot therein, a stop mounted on a door frame adapted for engagement withinthe slot of said end, a latching member pivotally attached to said L-shaped member, and a latching shoulder on the under side of said latching member adapted for latching engagenerlt with a notch in the upper face of a suitable s r1 e.

CLARENCE M. WOODWARD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,490,694 Brabson Apr. 15, 1924 2,035,074 Kauffman Mar. 24, 1936 

